I enjoyed the play of Cheteshwar Pujara: Ian Chappell

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell has lauded Cheteshwar Pujara’s style of playing spin bowling. The former Australia skipper discussed his technique in detail during an interview. Pujara has hit three half-centuries so far in the series. He hit centuries in both the innings India’s 197 runs win in the 1st test at Kanpur and continued his good form with another fifty in the 1st innings of the 2nd test at Kolkata. Pujara has 1857 runs at an outstanding average of 66.32 in 20 Tests in the sub-continent.

“I especially enjoyed the play of Cheteshwar Pujara — I love the way he quickly gets back to either play a forcing shot through the covers or a pull to the mid-wicket boundary,” the former Australian captain in a column for ESPN Cricinfo.

“Many batsmen limit themselves by “closing off” when they play the pull shot but Pujara opens up (thrusting his left leg towards the square-leg umpire) and creates a wider arc in which to place the ball. He was well supported by Murali Vijay, a dangerous opponent because he handles the new ball competently and can extend his innings by playing spin bowling well.”

The Aussie legend went on explained the art of spin bowling by making a comparison with a book he is reading currently.

This pair and Virat Kohli give India a trifecta of batsmen who can dictate terms to opposition spinners. As well as watching the Test on television I was also in the process of reading Gideon Haigh’s excellent new book; “Stroke of Genius”.

It’s a book about Victor Trumper’s batting artistry captured in one photograph, titled “Jumping Out”. In his playing days Trumper extolled the virtue of footwork with this simple philosophy; “Spoil a bowler’s length,” he remarked, “and you’ve got him.”

Chappell was also impressed by Indian opener Murali Vijay for his ability to handle pace and spin equally well. The 73-year-old mentioned that Pujara and Vijay, along with captain Virat Kohli, are the leading players of spin bowling in the Indian batting line-up.

“It’s this type of decisive footwork that allows a batsman to dictate the bowler’s field placings. Both Pujara and Vijay did this exquisitely by employing the late cut and either the square-cut or the forcing shot off the backfoot. By playing both shots they forced the fielding captain to place a man behind, as well as just in front of point.”

“He (Pujara) was well supported by Vijay, a dangerous opponent because he handles the new ball competently and can extend his innings by playing spin bowling well. This pair and Virat Kohli give India a trifecta of batsmen who can dictate terms to opposition spinners,” Chappell said.